A Final Fantasy and Ranma 1/2 Crossover
By Jade Dixon
Chapter 3- Out of the Ashes
Last Revised: May 20, 2004
After a week of observation, the doctors concluded that there was nothing they could do to aid in the revival of Ranma's lost memories. They gave their blessings for Ranma to be released, under the stipulation that she rested at home for at least a week before doing anything stressful.
"Right now, we can only hope that being in a familiar environment will help jog her memories. If it doesn't, don't get frustrated, these things can take time," the doctor advised them.
So they signed the release papers, and Nabiki arranged for the fan club to stay home for a week. Akane didn't ask how she managed it. Some things are better left unsaid.
Truth be told, Akane was just happy to be able to see Ranma again. After discovering Ranma couldn't remember her, she had gotten a bit angry and overemotional. Since then, the doctors had enforced the 'family only' rule strictly. Nabiki had drilled her the entire week about keeping herself under control and not losing her temper. She was sure she could manage it now.
It didn't help matters that Ranma, with no evidence to the contrary, now believed that he was a girl. It had been too risky to try changing him back while at the hospital and they had decided to wait on showing Ranma the truth for fear it would cause the girl trauma in her fragile state when she first arrived home. However, if by the end of the week there had been no progress, they would risk it.
Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi waited outside the front entrance to the dojo, waiting for the taxi carrying Nodoka and her 'daughter'. Akane paced back and forth, letting her anxiety shine through, while Nabiki merely leaned calmly against the compound wall, and Kasumi talked cheerfully with a neighbour she hadn't seen in a while.
Finally, the cab arrived and deposited its cargo. Nodoka helped her offspring out gently, and guided her over to the Tendo sisters.
"Ranma, these are Tendo Kasumi, Tendo Nabiki, and Tendo Akane, whom you've already met," she introduced gently, with her arm around the red-head's shoulders. "This is the Tendo Dojo, where we'll be staying for the next little while."
Ranma just looked confused. "Why are we staying here instead of at our own home?" she asked innocently. Nodoka winced.
"It's a bit complicated, dear, but you've lived here more than you have lived at the family home. We hope that by staying in a place more familiar to you, that you'll be able to recover your memories faster," the older woman explained.
"Oh," Ranma replied meekly.
They entered the house.
Back in her element as hostess, Kasumi seated them all at the dining room table and bustled around the kitchen fetching refreshments and making snacks. She tried to remember what Ranma's favourites were, but he had never expressed any preference, simply eating rapidly whatever was put down in front of him (excluding Akane's cooking, of course).
Meanwhile, at the table, an awkward silence settled. None of them knew quite where to begin. Akane was the first to break under the pressure, and nervously spoke up.
"Umm... I'm Akane. We're in the same class at school," she tried, feeling rather stupid.
"Yes, I remember you from the hospital..." Ranma began, but then trailed off, embarrassed at bringing up what was sure to be a shameful memory for the blue-haired girl.
Akane winced, remembering how hysterical she had gotten when she had first discovered that Ranma had lost his memory. "I'm really sorry about that, I don't know what got into me!" She furrowed her brow in thought. "I guess it was just the shock of the moment, although that's no excuse. A martial artist should always have control over their emotions." The youngest Tendo barely restrained herself from wincing over that as well. It had been one of the points that Nabiki had spent the last week drilling her on. Even more humiliating was that she was forced to take the lesson from a non-martial artist.
"So you're a martial artist?" Ranma spoke up eagerly, happy to be able to home in on a piece of information that wasn't directly related to her current lack of memory.
"Yup," Akane confirmed proudly, although a bit disappointed that Ranma hadn't remembered even that much about her. "So are you, in fact. Well, normally, I mean."
And again that awkward silence descended.
Kasumi returned with the snacks she had made, and smiled kindly at the shy girl sitting in their midst. "Are you feeling better today, Ranma? I heard your muscles have been giving you a lot of grief from the accident you were in."
Ranma returned the smile timidly, and answered the question. "Yes, I'm feeling much better today, thank-you... Kasumi, wasn't it?"
Kasumi beamed at her. "That's right. Well, if you have any more problems, you should go see Dr. Tofu, our local chiropractor. He's a bit of a funny man, but he does his job well, and is very kind. I'm sure you'll like him!"
"Thank-you," Ranma said, and took a sip from her teacup.
"Hey, Akane," Nabiki spoke up for the first time since Ranma had arrived. "Why don't you show Ranma to the dojo. Maybe it will spark some memories."
"Sure, Nabiki," Akane responded and then stood up. She held her hand out to the red-head. "Would you like to come with me to see the dojo?" She gave the other girl an encouraging smile.
Ranma looked to her mother first, and after receiving an approving nod, she turned back to Akane and took her hand, standing up as well. "Okay."
Ranma looked around the dojo with interest, but nothing sparked any familiarity with her. "Did I spend a lot of time here?" she inquired after her companion.
"In the last few months that you've been living with us, you've spent a fair amount of time here," Akane confirmed. She then corrected herself, "Well, actually, you fought more outside with your father and other challengers, but this would have been one of the more constant locations. We'll show you some of the others once we're sure that you've rested enough."
Under Akane's watchful eye, Ranma explored the inner perimeter of the dojo, running her hand along the many obvious repairs to the walls. She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing. Not a spark, not a glimpse." She lowered her hand, and clenched it in a fist, bowing her head. "I'm so sorry about this. It's very frustrating for me too."
"It's alright," Akane soothed, walking over to the distraught girl, and putting an arm around her shoulders. "It'll all come back eventually, you'll see. It's just going to take some time, like the doctors said."
"But that doesn't help me now!" Ranma hissed in frustration. She had disentangled herself from Akane's hug, and paced for a few moments before turning to a practice dummy and throwing a perfect punch at it to relieve stress. "It's not fair! Why has this happened to me, and not someone else?" The red-head swivelled to face Akane again, and was brought up short by the look on the girl's face. "Akane? Are you alright?" She hurried over to the youngest Tendo in concern.
"Do you realize what you just did, Ranma?" she asked, a hint of excitement in her voice. "Your posture, balance, breathing, it was all perfect when you threw that punch!" A smile was beginning to form.
Ranma just looked confused. "Well, you did say I was a martial artist right?"
"Exactly!" Akane grabbed at Ranma's shoulders. "Even if your brain is having problems remember things, your muscles haven't. You were so good, that it's become instinct, and maybe if we can get your body to start moving the way it used to, it'll trigger you memories!"
The red-head was still hesitant. "But if I can't even remember how to start, how can it work? Even throwing that punch was just by chance. I wouldn't even know where to begin..."
Akane smiled encouragingly at her fiancé. "Don't worry, I'm sure it will all come back to--HYAH!"
The chop to Ranma's neck was completely controlled, and Akane could have aborted it at any time if it looked like Ranma wasn't going to react properly. But just like she had expected, the amnesiac's body knew how to protect her better than her mind did, and the red-head ducked just before the attack would have struck home. Akane knew that the key to this would be refusing to allow the boy-turned-girl time to think, so she pressed the attack, dropping to the floor and performing a sweep-kick that the other back-flipped to avoid.
They danced like this all around the dojo, until the moment that Akane was just a tad too slow in performing the next attack, and instead of the fluid dodges that she'd been performing up to this point, Ranma's move was jerky and off-balanced. The Tendo tried to pick up her speed to bring back the instincts, but it was too late. Ranma was now too aware of what she was doing to trust her body's judgement. She was distracted and edgy, panic beginning to fill her face.
"Stop thinking so hard!" Akane yelled in frustration. Her own focus slipped just enough that her next attack actually connected when her partner failed to get out of the way in time. It was a solid punch into the red-head's stomach, and it sent her sprawling back with the wind knocked out of her.
Akane froze. That wasn't supposed to have happened. She watched helplessly as Ranma slowly sat up, clutching her stomach.
"Are... you alright?"
The glare she received chilled her to her core. "Alright? Alright?! You attacked me, and now you ask if I'm alright?!" Ranma struggled up to her feet, and stood up gingerly.
"I... was only trying to help. It seemed like it was working, at first..." Akane tried to justify weakly. She knew that she had lost control again.
"Oh yeah, great help!" Ranma drawled with bitter sarcasm. It was strange hearing it from someone usually so optimistic, or at the very least sincere. "Let's beat up the girl who just got out of hospital because it might correct her amnesia. Great plan there!"
"Hey!" Akane tried to protest, but Ranma just talked right over her.
"Frankly, if this is the type of treatment I'll be expecting, I'm not even sure I'd want to get my memories back."
Akane only watched despairingly as the red-head stalked out of the dojo. She only hoped that it didn't mean that Ranma was walking out of her life, as well.
The next day, Akane kept to her room, meditating and practicing other control techniques. She loathed the thought of having to do them, but yesterday's catastrophe proved Nabiki right. She had to learn better control, or she could really hurt someone.
Of course, she didn't deny to herself that the real reason she was behaving like a hermit was because she was avoiding Ranma. Both times they had been alone together since the accident, she had acted like a fool, and upset the other girl. She was afraid if they were together any more she would cause more harm than good.
It was at supper that Ranma decided to shake things up even more.
"Mom, can I change my name?"
Everything stopped. Nodoka choked on the tea she was sipping, Kasumi frowned with concern, Nabiki nearly spit out the rice she was chewing, and Akane snapped her chopsticks in half. They were all staring at the girl who had spoken up.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Ranma," Nodoka said once she had regained her composure. "If you want to get your memory back it best to surround yourself with familiar things. Your name is a very important part of that."
"It hasn't helped so far, has it?" Ranma pointed out. "And I don't like it. It's a stupid boy's name." Akane just stared. What kind of a childish argument was that?
"Ranma! That is the name your father gave you, and you will respect it," Nodoka barked.
A flicker of shame flashed across the red-head's face, and she bowed her head in apology. "I'm sorry, Mother," she whispered. Then raised her head with a determined expression on her face. "But that doesn't change the fact that I want to change my name. My memories will come back, or they won't. But I don't feel comfortable being called 'Ranma'. Certain things are expected from 'Ranma' that I can't demonstrate right now. It feels like I'm trying to lead a stranger's life." Here the petite girl shuddered. Kasumi handed her a cup of tea with a gentle smile to help warm her up.
"Thanks, Kasumi," Ranma murmured gratefully, taking a sip with a sigh. "It's just, I'm trying to go with my instincts." A brief glance at the youngest Tendo that no one else noticed. Akane froze where she was about to begin her own protest to the amnesiac's decision. "Following my instincts is more likely to lead me to rediscover what I've lost then just idly doing what people tell me to without thought or reason."
"That could be true..." Nodoka gave hesitantly. She knew this was a bad idea, but her daughter was giving a good argument.
Akane, on the other hand, knew that Ranma now had no desire to get her memory back. She had hoped that the other girl hadn't been serious about her declaration to never regain her memories, but it appeared that the matter was more serious than she had first thought.
'This is my fault,' Akane thought to herself, closing her eyes in resignation. 'But how do I prevent this from turning into a disaster?'
"Alright then, Ranma," Nodoka conceded with a weary sigh. "I'm not saying that I agree to allow this yet, but did you at least have something in mind?"
Here the red-headed girl paused. She tilted her head to the side and chewed absently on her bottom lip, obviously trying to think of a new name.
"It should at least be similar to 'Ranma'," Akane piped up suddenly. There was silence for a moment. Nabiki couldn't help but to look at her younger sister in shock. She had expected ardent protests, not helpful advice! She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. There was more going on here than there seemed.
Kasumi, utterly oblivious to the tension in the room, spoke up with her own suggestion. "How about 'Rana' then?" she spoke up. "It's different, but with enough similarities that it still might jog a memory..." She smiled supportively at their guest.
Ranma returned the smile enthusiastically. "That's perfect, Kasumi!" She turned to her mother, hope shining from her eyes. "Oh, please, Mother! May I use 'Rana' as my name? Please?" Ranma had her hands clasped together as she begged her mother to give in.
Nodoka was torn. She knew that this wouldn't be productive to regaining her son's memories, but on the other hand, Ranma did have a point about his name not helping so far. And the Tendo's seemed to be supportive...
She pressed her lips into a thin line. "Very well, Ranma. You may go by Rana for now. However," she stared sternly at her overjoyed daughter who looked about to tackle her in gratitude, "It will not be official. If someone calls you Ranma, you will answer. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Mother!" Ranma said with a grin, and then proceeded to attach herself to her mother's mid-section in a very enthusiastic hug.
Kasumi, master of the art of making people feel comfortable, managed to steer them back to more normal conversations, so that dinner wasn't finished in an uncomfortable silence.
As Akane was heading up to her room for the night she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around just in time to be enveloped in a hug by Ranma.
"Wha...?"
"Thank-you," the red-head smiled at her contentedly after releasing the youngest Tendo from the embrace. "For your support at dinner," she explained after Akane gave her a puzzled look.
Akane stiffened. "It was time for me to take responsibility for my actions," she muttered uneasily. "I owed you one for what happened in the dojo. Honour demanded that I repay my debt." The words came out forced, it would take time for the ideals she had recently re-embraced to become natural, but she was trying. Like Nabiki had told her while they waited for Ranma to come home from the hospital, for too long had she used the Art as a way of smashing through her problems. It was time to realize that the Art was worse than useless unless she followed the ideals it preached as well.
For a moment, Ranma looked lost, but then she regained her equilibrium, and smiled again. "Well, whatever the reason, I'm grateful. 'Night, Akane!" She walked down the hall to the guest bedroom she was currently sharing with her mother.
"Good-night... Rana..." Akane whispered.
They were arguing. Again.
Nabiki sighed from where she was working on a homework assignment as Akane and Rana argued over another point of Ranma's history. Frankly, Nabiki actually wasn't surprised in the least. After all, if she hadn't witnessed most of it, she wouldn't have believed most of this stuff had happened to Ranma either. And that's even considering the fact that she herself had learned magic from a dead monster, and had said tutor's daughter stuck in her older sister's head. What did surprise her though, was how long it was taking Akane to blow up, and how easily Rana was accepting things, overall.
Maybe Akane had listened to her after all...
She still wasn't sure what had happened two night's ago when Ranma had opted to change her name to Rana, but she was determined to find out.
Eventually.
Right now, all she could do was watch and, hopefully, learn some useful information. For instance, despite their constant arguments, Akane and Rana seemed to get along fairly well. Certainly better than Akane had when Ranma still had his memories.
Suddenly, Rana took a menacing step towards Akane, and Nabiki tensed, hoping that this wouldn't come to blows. Akane was tense too, and seemed to be preparing to block anything the red-head might throw at her.
With or without memories, Ranma's body had been trained to move with extreme speed, and Akane didn't stand a chance. Even as she brought her arms up to block, Rana's fingers tapped her in the middle of her forehead. The youngest Tendo blinked in confusion and stared bewildered at the other girl who was grinning like a maniac.
"Tag, you're it!" she yelled and raced around her friend to run through the house. Akane spluttered quite indignantly until realizing that the longer she waited the longer the other girl had to get away.
"Hey!" Akane yelled as she tore through the house after the other girl, a laugh bubbling through her lips without her permission. "No fair! You cheated!"
Nabiki just stared at the spot they'd been standing at. Then she shook her head and continued with her assignment. She'd figured out what just happened later. If she tried now, she was sure that her brain would explode from the strain.
That was the first example of Rana trying to recapture the childhood she couldn't remember, but it certainly wasn't the last. For the remainder of the week, the entire household was treated to tag games, hide and seek, childhood songs, and other activities that they considered themselves to grown-up to participate in, but secretly enjoyed the chance to experience again.
Kasumi was delighted to have a 'younger' child in the house again. It allowed her to play her mothering role far more completely. And it was good practice for when she would have her own family.
Nodoka wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. On one hand, it gave her the rather bizarre opportunity to have a part in her baby's lost childhood. On the other hand, Rana seemed to be developing her own personality, and Nodoka couldn't help but fear that she was losing Ranma forever. It seemed to be a ridiculous notion, after all, they were the same person, but each day that passed that Rana did not remember being Ranma felt like another inch that her son was slipping away from her.
It was the sixth night since Ranma had been brought home from the hospital, and the first time that Nabiki had a chance to talk with Terra about the amnesiac.
It was strange to see Terra looking so... cheerful. When she asked the half-Esper about it, she blushed a bit.
"It's nice to have children here in the house again," she explained with a tentative smile. "I know Rana's not really a child, but she acts like one most of the time, and she also manages to get the rest of you to participating in her games. It reminded me of Mobliz..." Terra trailed off at the end, a slight frown on her face.
Now Nabiki's curiosity had been piqued. Besides explaining the plight of her friends, Terra didn't talk much about herself or her world. "Was Mobliz your hometown?" she prodded gently.
At this, Terra looked startled. "What...? Oh... no. I didn't really have a hometown. Mobliz was decimated when Kefka destroyed the world. All the adults died." Sadness was painted across Kasumi's face. It was times like these that Nabiki could tell that the woman she was talking to wasn't her sister. "I was travelling at the time," she continued, "And when I arrived, I stayed. The oldest children were sixteen. They didn't know how to care for the little ones. Neither did I, for that matter," she admitted ruefully. "But I couldn't just leave them there..."
And Nabiki watched as a smile crossed the girl's face. If she hadn't known better, she would have assumed that she truly was talking to Kasumi.
"They called me 'Mama'," she confided happily. "And I guess being able to mother people again reminded me of that. It was the happiest time of my life, being able to look after my children..."
It was a completely new side to Terra that Nabiki had never seen before. Terra was a mysterious mage, an intriguing alien, a fighter with a purpose, a lost soul trying to find her way home, but never a woman with a family. Never someone with a past, and people to go home to. It was an eye opener.
Nabiki didn't know what to say about that, and so it turned to 'business-as-usual'. Since Nabiki had black-mailed the crowd into staying home for the week so Ranma could recuperate, it had been extremely quiet on the magical front. Nothing unusual to investigate, no leads on the Key. But even frustration over that couldn't seem to dampen Terra's spirits, and she left Nabiki's room with a small smile on her face, and humming a strange little tune.
Nabiki sighed and went to bed. One day her life would be normal. One day...
It was the last day of the week they had allotted themselves to restore Ranma's memory before trying the curse. They were all a little nervous about it. Sure, they had told Rana that she was really a boy a few days previous, but the skeptical girl had merely raised an eyebrow, glanced down at her chest, and smirked. Akane had spent the rest of the day glaring at Nabiki for being a bad influence. Nabiki, of course, just ignored her.
And it was interesting to note, that despite the fact that she claimed she didn't believe them, Rana had spent the last few days avoiding hot water like the plague.
Now they were all seated around the breakfast table, and Rana shifted nervously from where she was sitting, sensing the tension that was in the air.
"Rana," Nodoka finally began. As the eldest in the household, and Ranma's mother she felt it was her duty to broach this subject. "You remember when Akane told you about the Jusenkyo curse, correct?" she began.
The red-head, sensing where this was going, froze for a moment, before nodding cautiously. Only Akane knew that her hesitation was because she didn't want to get her memories back, and she was afraid that this option might work.
"Well," Nodoka continued, oblivious to her daughter's unease, "Now that you've had time to rest and regain your strength, we believe it might be a good idea to show you how it works." The older woman paused for a moment to see how Rana was taking the news.
The child's carefree visage was gone, masked by a controlled blankness that broke her heart. The poor girl was probably terrified. After all, how would she feel if she was told she was about to be turned into a boy.
She laid a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. "It will be alright, Rana," she soothed. "If the change brings back your memories, then you'll be used to the experience. If not, then we can change you back. There's nothing to be concerned about."
Rana managed a weak smile to reassure her mother. Happy with her daughter's compliance she turned to Kasumi. "Would you be a dear and fetch a kettle please, Kasumi?" she requested.
"Of course, Mrs. Saotome!" She rushed off to the kitchen to fetch the large kettle that was already boiling on the stove. She walked back slowly, but even that could not cool down the water enough to be anything but painful when poured over a person.
"Hey, that hurts!" Rana screeched as Kasumi began dousing the red-headed girl with the contents of the kettle. Soon enough, the water was gone, and Kasumi stepped back a bit. What she saw caused her to drop the kettle.
Skin already beginning to pink a little from the abuse it had just gone through, the red-headed girl sat in a rapidly spreading pool of water, picking at her damp clothes.
Red-headed girl.
Nodoka was staring at the child she had been told was her son in shock. Anger began to boil inside her as she realized that she had been lied to. She should have known better than to believe such a foolish tale. Water activated curses indeed! She was just about to demand an explanation when she took in the expressions of the Tendo girls.
Nabiki had frozen. It seemed she was trying to regain her composure. But Nodoka was not blind. She knew that the middle Tendo would not be above deceiving someone if it suited her own purposes. Akane was doing a remarkable impression of a landed fish, but the girl had admitted to being involved with acting from time to time.
It was Kasumi's reaction that cooled her rage down to a simmer. Kind, gentle, honest Kasumi, with not a deceptive bone in her body was staring in shock at Rana, eyes wide, hand covering her gasp of surprise. Nodoka could tell, even with the hand in front of her mouth that, for once, the older girl was not smiling.
This reminded Nodoka that it had not just been the Tendo's who had explained Ranma's strange life, but those other girls at the hospital as well. Whatever the evidence her eyes were giving her, there was more to this story than there seemed.
It was Rana who broke the silence.
"Well, that was productive," she chewed out with great sarcasm. That earned her a sharp glance from her mother to which she responded with a sullen 'sorry' before the copper-haired woman turned her attention to the Tendo's.
By this point, Kasumi had gotten a hold of herself, and was cleaning up the spilled water around Rana with a towel she had brought with her from the kitchen. She was also murmuring to the red-headed girl about finding her a change of clothes so that she didn't catch a chill. Nabiki was looking at Rana through narrowed eyes, and Akane just looked lost.
"I am looking," Nodoka began firmly, looking at each of them in turn, "For explanations as to what just happened." Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and she looked far from amused.
"I...I don't understand! It should have worked!" Akane was absolutely flabbergasted. This didn't make any sense at all!
"That water was definitely more than hot enough," confirmed Nabiki, brows drawn into a frown as she tried to puzzle through this unexpected turn of events. She walked around the table and poked experimentally at one of Rana's breasts.
"Ummm, could you not do that, please?" Rana requested with wide eyes at the strange behaviour.
Ignoring the Rana's words, Nabiki stood again, and placed her hand at her chin, in a classical 'thinking' pose. "The curse has been locked in place before, but I can't think what would have caused it this time. Maybe there was something funny with the water at the site of the accident?" The skeptical tone of her voice told the others how much weight she'd put on that theory.
"Perhaps we could ask Shampoo's grand-mother," Kasumi suggested as she finished mopping up. "Doesn't she know a lot about the curses, and magic?"
Nabiki paused. That didn't sound like something Kasumi would say. Not so much as the content, but the tone. Terra? "It's a possibility," she played along in the meantime. "Might as well wait until tomorrow, though, when the rest of the crazies come for their visit."
Akane was about to open her mouth to comment on that when Rana stood up, effectively cutting her off.
"Well, while you guys have fun talking about me, I'm going to go get changed." She stalked out of the room in a huff. Nodoka frowned at her daughter's behaviour, which she seemed to be doing a lot lately, but let it pass this time. Once Rana had left the room, Akane picked up where she'd left off, after a nervous glance at the red-head's retreat.
"You mean they're back tomorrow?" she hissed at Nabiki irritably. "Ranma still doesn't remember anything! We certainly won't be ready with only one day left. The curse was our last chance for a quick solution to this! Can't you hold them back any longer?"
Nabiki raised a condescending eyebrow at her sister and responded coolly. "The doctor recommended a week of rest before doing anything stressful. That's why we waited a week before trying the curse, if you recall. Do you think anything short of a doctor's orders could keep all of them from descending on us like a pack of wolves tomorrow? Do you really think they'll believe me if I try to tell them Ranma still needs more time to recuperate?" Akane tried to protest but Nabiki cut her off, a bit of heat leaking into her voice. "Of course not! They'd assume we were hiding something, and they'd be right! We're lucky they agreed to stay away for the week as it is! Heck, we're lucky none of them got it into their heads to try and sneak in here anyway!"
"That's enough, Nabiki!" Nodoka cut in authoritively. "Calm down a moment. You've worked yourself up." Nabiki plunked herself down into a seated position next to Nodoka, filling the space Rana had recently vacated. The older woman placed a hand on the girl's shoulder as she took a few deep breaths to cool down.
Hesitantly, not wanting to upset her sister again, Akane asked, "How did you get them to stay away?"
"Don't be nosy," Nabiki retorted, but with a playful snort that told Akane she wasn't really upset. "Anyway," she continued from her earlier rant, but back in control, "It might actually be a good thing at this point to have the bunch of them around. Ranma's familiar with them, so it's likely to prompt a memory or two. Or maybe the whole thing, who knows?"
"Let's hope so," Nodoka murmured sadly. As much as she'd come to enjoy spending time with 'Rana', she would like a chance to get to know her son.
The women looked at each other morosely as it started to become clear that getting Ranma's memory back would not be as easy as they'd hoped.
Between all the jigs and reels of the day, Nabiki hadn't found a chance to hunt down Terra for a talk. It wasn't until after everyone had found their ways to bed that she had finally gained an opportunity to sneak over to Kasumi's room.
"So you did understand my message," Terra said to her, the moment she had closed the door. "I wasn't sure if I'd made it clear enough or not."
Nabiki scowled. "You should be careful delivering messages like that. One of the others might have noticed. Kasumi doesn't sound like that." Helping Terra was all fine and good, but it wouldn't hurt to remind the girl that she was in this for Kasumi's welfare first and foremost.
The half-Esper had the grace to blush. "I'm sorry. You're right, of course. It's just that we had talked just last night and I didn't think we should wait before discussing today's events."
"Why the curse didn't work?" Nabiki guessed. Terra nodded eagerly. Nabiki rolled her eyes. The fighter got far too excited when it came to figuring out magical puzzles. "I don't see the point then," she sighed. "There was nothing unusual about it, it just didn't work."
"Precisely!" Terra all but cut her off. "There was nothing unusual! The curse-magic flared, just like normal when it's about to activate, and then, at the last second, it just didn't work!" At Nabiki's blank look, Terra made a slight growl of frustration and began pacing the room.
"Look, if the curse acted just like normal, why didn't it work? If it was an outside influence we would have noticed the intruding magical flow and been able to pin in from its source. But there wasn't. One minute the curse was going to work, and the next, it didn't. Something interfered, Nabiki. And if the curse wasn't suppressed from the outside..."
"...then it must have come from within Ranma..." Nabiki breathed, finally realizing why the other girl was so excited. "If there were two magical forces of equal power, but incompatible, one would overshadow the other instead of doubling the output from the person's magical aura."
"Essentially hiding whichever one of the two was not currently active," Terra confirmed.
"So you think Ranma might have been the Key all along, and the curse just masked it?" Someone had to say out loud what they were dancing around.
Nabiki watched as Terra took in a steadying breath. Trying not to let hope overwhelm her, because it would hurt too much if it turned out that they were wrong.
"I'm saying that it's a possibility," she finally allowed herself to speak out loud, a light of hope that she couldn't suppress shining in her eyes. "It could also be that the second spell is something else entirely," she conceded, but it was obvious that she couldn't bring herself to believe that.
"But why would the Key suppress the Jusenkyo curse?" Nabiki queried, still skeptical. It was too good to be true.
At that question, Terra's face fell a bit. "I have no idea," she admitted with a downcast look on her face. "It's not as if the spell is gender specific. If that were the case Ranma would never have been the Key in the first place. It doesn't even have to be a living creature. Depending on the world, it can be an object or place."
They stared at each other for a few minutes before Nabiki have up with a sigh of defeat. "Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt to watch her a bit more closely..."
Kasumi's face lit up in a brilliant smile as Terra pulled Nabiki into a hug. "Wouldn't it be wonderful," the possessed girl whispered whimsically, "If this were all over with soon?"
Nabiki agreed, but she couldn't help but think that things would not be that simple.
Author's Notes:
For anyone who first started reading this on my website, this chapter contains the content of both the old three and four. I'm sorry for the long delay! This chapter took so long because I was extremely busy with school, and when I wasn't I had usually left my notes somewhere inconvenient. If things feel a bit disjointed, that's probably because I wrote it in several different sittings, with bits and pieces at the beginning until I had time to just sit down and write it all out. Please review and let me know what you think.